Not good timing as the US/China trade delegation continues it’s drawn-out talks, with the latest Chinese trade figures pointing to a near record surplus with the US. From Trading Economics:
China’s trade surplus widened to USD 57.06 billion in December of 2018 from USD 53.85 billion in the same month a year earlier and beating market consensus of USD 51.53 billion. It was the largest trade surplus since December 2015, as exports fell at a softer 4.4 percent year-on-year while imports dropped by 7.6 percent.
While the year on year figures were solid, as exports had a near 10% rise in 2018 USD dollar terms, it was the December 2018 prints that slumped, with unexpected falls in both exports and imports. From Bloomberg:
Exports in dollar terms fell 4.4 percent from a year earlier, while imports dropped 7.6 percent,. Both were the worst result since 2016, and left a trade balance of $57.1 billion.
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And quite rightly, safe haven buying in Yen saw the USDJPY pair and AUDJPY cross fall sharply on the news:
These are not good “optics” given China’s top negotiator looks set to head to the US to stave off the next salvo in the ongoing Trump Trade War.
